Sunday Story...Food, Its not just for dinner anymore

Sunday Story…Food…it isn’t just for dinner anymore

Food is not just a matter of putting calories into your hopper. If it was we could just have some sort of gruel that would provide the necessary calories (energy) and nutrients and be good to go. Unfortunately it really isn’t that simple. And if it was maybe I could get away with eating ice cream and chocolate all day along with a multivitamin and that would be sufficient. Wouldn’t that be nice!

Food is tied up into our emotional being. If it wasn’t there would be no bulimics or anorexics. Weight would not be an issue because we would only eat to survive. Instead we have placed food in a position of soothing us, replacing love, and even meeting our need for companionship.

Food is just food. It is on one hand just some version of macro nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, and fat) and on the other hand it is the responsible for how I feel, day to day and hour to hour. Some of this is chemical…sugar does certain things to my body chemistry, proteins break down in certain ways, carbohydrates create an insulin reaction in my body, fat gets processed through my gall bladder and liver. All of these amazing things are done automatically and without thought.

The thought comes in as we are deciding what and when and how to eat. And that is based on our social conditioning, the way we were raised, and the associations we bring from childhood about food in general and certain foods in particular.

Think for a moment about Thanksgiving (since we are coming upon that time again). There are things about your Thanksgiving experience that are uniquely yours. They are all tied up in the memories you have of Thanksgivings past...the smells, the sights, the fights, and the fetes. And for you, the meal will not be complete unless there is some particular thing on the table, prepared in a particular fashion. It really has very little to do with the food itself, with the calories present, the protein or fat or carbohydrates. And it has everything to do with your emotional body and the relationship you have with food.

How do you feel about the food you are about to eat right now? Is it just sustenance? Is it going to soothe some raging beast inside your soul? Is that piece of chocolate going to validate your existence? How about that fried chicken leg, doughnut, or box of crunch a munch? Why do we tie so much up in our food and then refuse to sit down and eat with gratitude and intention? Does it really make sense?

What I am saying, what I am proposing is to change, shift, transform your relationship with the food you eat. If the relationship you have is at all times healthy and fulfilling then don't change it. But if you find yourself craving certain foods...be it chocolate, peanut butter, candy, cookies, fried okra (?), or what have you, then it may be time to take a good look at what is standing behind those overwhelming desires. What did you miss out on? What did those foods supplant?Why those foods and not others?

One of the simplest ways to look at the issue deeply is to clean up your diet. Eliminate the anti-nutrients, the toxic foods, the empty calories and the industrialized edible food products from your diet. Notice I said simple...not easy. In an earlier iteration I wrote of deciding to eliminate these foods...sugar, dairy, processed food, industrialized food, grains, and even more radically...potatoes, legumes and beans. All of these things carry toxins and anti-nutrients into your body. Eliminate them for 30 days. Then re-introduce them one by one and see how your body feels and reacts when you do.

How does this shift your relationship with food? It will force to to become intentional about your food choices. It will force you to think about what you are going to eat and why. No longer will food be something to be forced down over the kitchen sink. And while you may choose to eat it in front of the television you will make the choice. Food will require planning and shopping and yes, some work. But it is the work of your soul...the work of nourishing your body and nurturing your spirit.

You will eat green stuff. Some meat, hopefully sourced from natural sources, nuts, seeds, fruits and healthy fats. Today I walked around a number of food vendors and decided to eat this exact way...the only thing I could not control was the sourcing of the material, for that I had to depend on the word of the vendor. I did not feel deprived that I wasn't eating pizza, or calzone, or dimsum, or some other food that may be tasty and unhealthy. Deprivation is in your mind. As I write this I can feel the food surging through my system, fueling my organs, energizing my cells and allowing my mind to race from idea to idea.

I am grateful for food that fuels my body. Grateful to the animals that died so I may eat, grateful to the humans that worked to bring it to me, grateful to live in a place where such abundance is readily available to me. This is what I mean when I talk about a healthy and healthful relationship with the food I eat. Bon appetit!

Namaste

John

“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”

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